2011-2015 Ways of Working

These are the Ways of Working adopted by the original group of 17 candidates in 2011 and which guided the work of the 10 IfF councillors for the next four years.

Click here for the current IfF Ways of Working

Ways of Working

The Independents for Frome ‘Ways of Working’ are prefaced by this quote:

“The noble art of losing face will one day save the human race”. Piet Hein

Here are the Guidelines we use to work.

  1. A willingness and ability to participate in rational debate leading to a conclusion.
  2. Understanding the difference between constructive debate and acidic personal attacks.
  3. Avoidance of identifying ourselves so personally with a particular position that this in itself excludes constructive debate.
  4. Preparedness to being swayed by the arguments of others and admitting mistakes.
  5. Relative freedom from any overriding dogma or ideology which would preclude listening to the views of others.
  6. Trust, confidence and optimism in other people’s expertise and knowledge.
  8. An acceptance that you win some, you lose some; it’s usually nothing personal and there’s really no point in taking defeats to heart.

And there are the ‘Principles’ which are how we’ll work with
IfF’s final 6 Principles:

  1. Independence. Traditional party politics are corrosive and serve no purpose at a local level. IFF councillors would be non-party and free to make decisions on behalf of the community without policy imposed from outside, nor with the requirement to vote as a block.
  2. Integrity. We intend to introduce as much transparency and openness into the system as possible; limiting private meetings, providing easy access to minutes and decision making, and improving public involvement and consultation.
  3. A “Can Do” approach. The council can, and should, be the positive hub that helps to ensure the joint success of the private, public and voluntary sectors of Frome, sometimes thinking the “unthinkable” to produce “the supposedly undoable”.
  4. A New Sustainable way of working. We want to rethink the role of the council to youth, arts, the elderly, education, employment and the voluntary sector whilst lobbying assertively for more resources for the town.
  5. Fairness. A belief in fairness and compassion founded on a respect for local democracy producing a society run for all.
  6. Cleaner and Greener. Developing creative alliances to make Frome a cleaner and greener place to live.

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